Shelter Me . . .
by Karri Potter
Summary: My second fanfic . . . a songfic, I suppose. Voldemort has just returned to power and Harry's feeling down. How can his friends help him?


  
  


Author's Note: All right, this is set at the end of the fourth book, roughly, before they leave Hogwarts. The song at the end is Jaci Velasquez's, although I've taken the liberties of altering it a bit . . . everything connected to Harry Potter is J.K.'s, lucky her. Yes, I'm aware that this is slightly (all right, very) corny, and I'm not sure Ron knows what harmonizing _is_, let alone how to do it, but hey, I've done worse. Let me know what you think! ^..^

  
  
  
  


Shelter Me . . .

  
  


Harry stared unseeingly into the Gryffindor common room fire. It snapped, krackled and popped cheerfully, contrasting sharply with Harry's mood. Voldemort had returned to power . . . he was growing stronger . . . the wizarding world was coming to Dark times- Dumbledore had said so himself, and Dumbledore was rarely wrong. 

  
  


A loud sigh escaped his lips. Hermione looked up from _Hogwarts, a History_ and tilted her head pensively. Harry hadn't been talking much since the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but then, who could blame him? It must have been a terrible experience, and Harry wasn't one to share what he felt. Poor Harry. He was practically all alone in the world- no parents to love him. Hermione went and sat on the couch beside him, putting an arm around him and her head on his shoulder. "It'll turn out all right, Harry," she said quietly. "You'll see."

  
  


Ron watched his friends, one comforting the other, and shook his head. Harry was awfully brave, facing Voldemort and all. And it wasn't over yet, not by a long shot. His dad had told him stories about the last time Voldemort was in power, and they weren't pretty. He shuddered to think of that happening again. And with the Ministy being in denial and all . . .

  
  


Ron got up and stretched out on the couch, laying his head in Hermione's lap. She smiled and brushed some hair out of his eyes.

The three friends sat there, silently, in the deserted common room, each lost in their own thoughts. The fire began to die, until it was only glowing embers, casting a flickering orange light on their faces.

  
  


Finally Harry stirred. "You guys-" he began. His voice cracked, and he tried again. "You guys- you know you're my- my best friends, right? You and Sirius- you're like my family." He swallowed hard. "You're all I've got."

  
  


"Oh, Harry," Hermione said. A tear trickled down her face and splashed onto Ron's. "Hey," he said softly, and reached up to wipe a second tear from her cheek with his thumb.

  
  


Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. Ron tilted his head back to look at Harry. "You know we're here for you, man."

Harry smiled sadly. "I know."

  
  


They lapsed into silence again, until Hermione began to sing. 

  
  


_How the mind can wander_

_How the heart can stray_

_Suddenly you're on the edge of darkness_

_How it makes me ponder_

_How I'm led away_

_Down a path that leaves me worn and tarnished._

  
  
  
  


__It was a familiar tune, and Ron joined in, singing harmony.

  
  


_Battling the will within_

_I have known all along_

_That I should lean on you_

_'Cause I'm never strong enough_

_To fight it on my own_

  
  


Harry felt a lump form in his throat as he listened to his two best friends sing.

_Shelter me . . ._

_You are the fortress that I seek_

_Shelter me . . ._

  
  


__Ignoring the pricking at his eyelids, Harry began to sing as well.

  
  


_Safe from danger surrounding me_

_Safe from looming defeat . . ._

  
  


__The three friends sang their hearts out, finally having found a release for everything they'd been holding within.

  
  


_You will never leave me stranded_

_Fending for myself_

_When the enemy advances_

_You are there to help_

_Standing in the gap for me _

_Whenever I grow weak_

_You are my deliverer_

_The refuge that I seek_

  
  


__The boys quieted as Hermione sang softly:

  
  


_I should lean on you_

_'Cause I'm never strong enough_

_To fight it on my own_

  
  


__All three finished with a powerful

  
  


_Shelter me . . ._

  
  


The last note rang into the silence a moment. They all looked at each other, slightly embarrassed, then broke into laughter.

Harry laughed too. How could he not? With friends like these, he felt like he could face anything.

And he would.

  
  


__


End file.
